The present invention relates to a video printer, and more particularly, to a video printer for making a hard copy of each frame of a scene of a video motion picture or the like.
Several kinds of video printers, such as CRT video printers, laser video printers, LED laser printers and inkjet printers, are known for transforming a video image into a visible image. For instance, in a CRT video printer, continuous video images such as a video motion picture or a video animation reproduced by a video tape player or taken by a TV camera are displayed on a CRT after appropriate image processing and are printed on a photographic material as a hard copy.
In order to know what scenes are recorded on a video recording medium such as a video tape, video floppy disk, or the like before being replayed, it is convenient to attach a general scene index including stills of various scenes recorded on the recording tape or disk (a so-called index print). For providing such index prints, at least one frame of each scene of the continuous video images recorded on, for example, a video tape is printed as a hard copy. The video tape is played by a video tape player (VTP) and is observed on a TV screen to identify a frame number of a frame of each scene desired to be printed. Thereafter, the video tape is replayed to make hard copies of frames like stills with reference to the noted frame numbers frame by frame. Otherwise, the frames for which hard copies are desired are recorded in an electrical or magnetic recording medium such as a video floppy disk. Then, the frames recorded in the floppy disk are reproduced for printing on a frame by frame basis. These stills are edited as an index print to provide a brief demonstration of the contents of the video tape.
In any way to make hard copies as index still prints, it is a somewhat troublesome and time consuming operation to make a hard copy of scenes of a continuous video images on a frame by frame basis. In particular, the latter manner leads to a deterioration of image quality because an image is reproduced as image signals from a video tape or floppy and then is printed. In addition, the latter manner requires an extra VTP.